Take 5: all the news you need to know this week 9.1

TGIF! it’s been a long week, but we’ve got your back. Here are the top five stories you need to know to stay informed:

North Korea vs. United States

As many of you know, North Korea and the U.S. have had a more than rocky relationship lately, and that’s an understatement. North Korea has been attempting to launch missiles, and more often than not their efforts have been failures, but among those failures have been a few successes. One of the more recent updates between the two countries has been the travel ban North Korea is placing on US citizens. Starting September 1st, all U.S. citizens will be banned from traveling to North Korea.

2. Houston Explosions Lead to More Evacuees

Houston, Texas is in the midst of crisis as floods fill the city. So far, 38 deaths have been reported due to the tragic storm. Just when we all thought it couldn’t get any worse, blasts went off at a plant in Crosby, forcing more people to evacuate. The area within 1.5 miles of the plant was completely evacuated. To help support Houston, you can donate to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, the proceeds of which go directly to helping victims of the natural disaster.

3. Taylor Swift Breaks Records with New Single and Music Video

After a hiatus that lasted over half a year, and almost three years after the release of her 6th studio album, 1989, Taylor Swift has come out of hiding, and she’s already going strong. Late Thursday, on the 24th, Swift dropped her single “Look What You Made Me Do” and announced that she would be releasing an album on November 10. The new song is a revenge-inspired hit that seems to reference Calvin Harris, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Katy Perry all at once. The song went to #1 in over 80 countries the day it was released, breaking countless records in such a little time frame. It was streamed on Spotify over 8 million times, earning the title of most played song in 24 hours. The video earned over 43 million views within 48 hours of its being released, the biggest record of all time for YouTube, and to date has over 100 million views.

4. Theresa May Announces That She Will Not be Quitting

Despite losing the election that she herself unnecessarily called for, Theresa May intends to remain as prime minister of Britain. Ms. May said that she wants to stay on indefinitely and may even run for general election in 2022. Strangely enough, Ms. May is the one who called for the election; in the aftermath of the tally, the Conservatives’ share of seats fell to 318 spots, the Labor Party saw an increase in MPs to 261, the Scottish National Party won 35 spots, and the Liberal Democrats gained 12 MPs.

5. Contracts Drawn for Trump’s Border Wall

During the 2016 election, Trump infamously promised to build a wall stopping Mexican citizens from entering the United States. This promise was not only racist and discriminatory, but one that didn’t seem to have the best odds of actually becoming reality. Well, Trump is doing everything in his ability to make sure it does become a reality, including commissioning the construction of four prototype walls. The four concrete prototypes created will be 30ft (9m) long and up to 30ft tall and will be built in the coming months. The four contracts are worth up to $500,000 each.